Dilma tells Temer that PMDB has no place in the reform.
The president wants to form a party alliance equal to or larger than the one in 2010, and to that end, he will use positions from the ministerial reshuffle; at least ten changes are expected in the top tier of government; the more parties in the alliance, the more campaign time on TV.
By Jeferson Ribeiro
BRASILIA, Jan 14 (Reuters) President Dilma Rousseff told Vice President Michel Temer in a meeting on Monday that she is finding it difficult to expand the PMDB party's influence in the ministries, according to a source at the Planalto Palace speaking to Reuters.
The approximately two-hour meeting with Temer, who is the PMDB's president on leave, kicked off negotiations that Dilma will conduct with allies in the coming days, before beginning the process of replacing ministers who will leave the government to run in state elections. At least ten changes are expected in the top ranks.
The president argued to Temer that she is having difficulty meeting all the requests from the parties that have bolstered her allied base in Congress, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
There are demands from the PP, which currently heads the Ministry of Cities and wants to take over at least one more ministry, from the PSD, which heads the Ministry of Micro and Small Businesses and has already pledged to support Dilma's reelection, and from the newly created Republican Party of Social Order (Pros), among others.
Dilma wants to form a party alliance equal to or larger than the one in 2010, and to do so she will use positions from the ministerial reshuffle. The more parties in the alliance, the more campaign time on TV.
The PMDB controls five ministries (Social Security, Agriculture, Tourism, Mines and Energy, and Civil Aviation) and aims to lead the Ministry of National Integration, which was under the control of the PSB. The socialists left the government in September, when the governor of Pernambuco and president of the party, Eduardo Campos, said that the PSB would have its own presidential candidate.
According to the source, Dilma said she is having difficulty placing the PMDB in charge of that ministry. "But this hasn't been a definitive conversation yet," she said, admitting, however, that it won't be easy to make the necessary arrangements to expand the party's presence in the cabinet.
Dilma will continue meetings with other allied parties in the coming days. Temer already spoke with some PMDB members on Monday, and if Dilma does not heed the party's request, the most disgruntled would be the PMDB senators, who considered the appointment of their colleague Vital do Rêgo (PB) to the position a certainty.
The president said at the end of the year that she would begin cabinet reshuffles in January and complete them by Carnival, in early March. Dilma is expected to make the first changes after her international trips, which will begin on the 22nd and end on the 29th.
The most anticipated change is in the Chief of Staff's office to replace Minister Gleisi Hoffmann, who will resume her Senate seat and is expected to run for governor of Paraná. The most likely candidate to take over is the Minister of Education, Aloizio Mercadante. Both are from the Workers' Party (PT).
Ministers Aguinaldo Ribeiro (Cities), Fernando Pimentel (Development, Industry and Foreign Trade), Pepe Vargas (Agrarian Development), Maria do Rosário (Human Rights), Alexandre Padilha (Health), and Marcelo Crivella (Fisheries) are also expected to leave the government.
Dilma may also replace the Minister of Institutional Relations, Ideli Salvatti, and the interim Minister of Ports, Antonio Henrique Pinheiro Silveira.
She has already stated that she does not intend to make changes to the economic team, assuring on several occasions that the Finance Minister, Guido Mantega, will not leave the government.